Hero
by Hasenpfeffer
Summary: Shadow Link's internal struggle when he turns around to the good side in the manga. Rated T to be safe.


"F-forgive me, lord Ganon. I don't want to go into the light anymore..." I groaned, as the dark shadows pushed me into the harsh world of light. My voice sounded despicably pitiful, but I couldn't help it. That was exactly how I felt. I hated it. Feeling so powerless, cold, and weak... It was all because of _them_. Them, their princess, and the cursed light!

"You are not forgiven!" Ganon's voice echoed loudly in my ears, making me feel even more sick. I was still recovering when those four other Links blasted me into shadows, and here I was, being sent right back out into the cold hard world.

"You still have your part to play," the voice continued, "So rise again, Shadow. While the Dark Mirror exists, you live. Now go! Defeat the heroes!"

The liquid shadows shoved me out of the darkness. I landed limply in a wet puddle of darkness on the floor. Crying, groaning, and gasping, I tried to pick myself up off the floor, shadows streaming off of me.

Then I noticed I wasn't alone. The princess, Zelda, was in the room. She was staring at me sadly, like she felt pity for me. I hated it.

"What are you looking at?" I spat venomously, gasping and shivering from cold and exhaustion, "Move it! I won't have your pity! Nothing hurts more... than pity!" Her gaze softened even more, and she took a tentative step toward me.

"Get away from me!" I yelled, trying to keep my voice from trembling. I wanted her to leave, but somehow, it felt a little good to have someone caring about me. Half of me wanted her to stay, I knew I was pushing away a chance at finally having friendship and being... No.

"Curse you!" I growled, trying to drag myself into the shadows and away from the pure light that was her. All the light brought was pain. She was causing me to have an inner-battle with myself. Curse her. Curse me, curse everything. I hated light. I hated Ganon. I hated darkness. I hated being everyone's puppet. I hated heroes. I hated myself. I hated life.

"Do you really think the light will hurt you?" the princess asked softly. I glared at her, trying to hide the fact that I was doubting myself and hanging on to her every word.

"Don't you see?" she continued, "You are a Link too. Deep inside, you're really a hero."

Those few words struck me to the core. A hero? How could I be? All I did was destroy. Destroy lives, destroy light, destroy friendships. Could I really be good somewhere inside? Would I be noticed if I was good? Would I have friends? Something told me that it was all a big 'yes'. That it was not too late to reform and start again, lead a better life full of friendship instead of hate. ...That was what I wanted, right? That was why I started this in the first place.

Steeling myself to reply and tell her I wanted to change, I opened my mouth just as a dark cloud enveloped Zelda. She gasped in surprise.

"L... Link..." She faded into unconsciousness as the cloud's poison did its work. It lifted her up and started taking her away.

"D- Dark cloud, halt!" I yelled, unable to keep from stammering, "What are you doing with the princess?"

"As Lord Ganon commands," It boomed, "With the heroes' defeat, Zelda will be the last light in Hyrule. A true world of darkness begins with her demise."

I stood feebly, legs trembling with effort, "I can't let you take her out of this room! Those are my orders from Lord Ganon!" I snarled, hoping they would listen and my facade would hold up. I wanted to talk to her more, tell her I wanted to reform, which I really did. I also knew that if she went with those clouds, she would almost certainly die. I couldn't have that.

"Are they?" The cloud asked, "Or do you just want to keep Princess Zelda for yourself?" I knew at once that it had seen right through my ploy.

"You shadows can be deceptive, but you're... so easy to see through!" At that moment, the cloud rolled to the side, exposing the sunlight shining down directly into my eyes. I screamed and covered my face.

"Stop it! The light... I'm scared of the light..." I whimpered. How could I change when I couldn't even stand the light they lived in?

"Get back to your work shadow hero! And remember, it's Lord Ganon who protects you from the light!" The dark cloud laughed as it billowed away, princess in tow. I felt so utterly useless. I was a failure. I couldn't even decide which side I was on. I slumped onto the ground, defeated and sobbing. What was I supposed to do now?

I was sick of being the shadow, the person in the background that no-one cared about, not even my own side. I was tired of being the puppet, letting Vaati and Ganon control me. I wanted to stand out, be a hero, not a demon. I knew where my loyalties lay now, and it was not with them.

Standing up shakily, I headed down the stairs, hoping to find the Links. I could help them, and warn them about Zelda. But... they wouldn't trust me, would they? Closing my eyes in concentration, I willed the shadows to make me look like Vio. Then, grunting, panting, and exhausted, I continued slowly down the long spiral staircase, leaning heavily against the wall.

I only hoped I would make it in time.

**~/_\~**

It took me a good fifteen minutes to just manage the stairway and a short hallway. After that, I collapsed, drained, in the middle of a doorway. What kind of hero was I, if I couldn't even stand upright? Suddenly I heard a voice whose words I couldn't quite make out. But I could see the figure rounding the corner.

"G... Green!" I shouted as best I could, trying in vain to struggle to my feet and hoping he heard me. He did.

"Vio!" Green shouted as he raced over, "Are you hurt? Hold still! Here, lean on me!" Having someone care about me like that was a very new experience. It had never happened before, and I felt a little overwhelmed.

"I... I'm fine," I brushed him off with a trembling hand, trying to sound sincere even though I knew I was the exact opposite of 'fine,' both physically and mentally. Even now, I was still doubting my choices, but there was no way I was going back. That path only held loneliness, misery, and anger. I hoped I could change that.

"Anyway," I continued before Green could speak, "Zelda is in danger! We've got to act fast, before the poison in the dark cloud kills her!"

"Huh?! How do you know th-" I realized quickly my mistake. I had no excuse on how I knew that she was in danger. Too tired to think up a plausible excuse in one second, I interrupted,

"I just _do_, okay?" I silently pleaded that he would listen. We had to act before it was too late.

"Look! Green and Vio! Thank goodness!" Red's voice reached my ears as the hero himself burst into view, his blue counterpart trailing behind. I hoped Vio would stay lost until I did my work. They probably would not believe me, and I was definitely not strong enough to take them all on in a fight. Thankfully, it was only the two of them that rounded the corner.

Standing up shakily, I pointed towards a multitude of towers.

"C'mon! It's this way to... the Palace of Winds!" Starting down a hallway, I found I had to lean on the wall for support. I refused to lean on one of the Links. I wasn't used to that much physical contact, especially if I was pretending to be someone else. They might notice something.

"Vio, are you sure you're all right?" Blue asked me, noticing how exhausted I was.

"Don't worry about me," I insisted, stopping once I reached a ledge hanging out over open sky. We were above the clouds, and it was a rather pretty sight, but that wasn't what I was paying attention to.

"There are the towers..." I huffed.

"There's no way we can make it!" Green exclaimed. I stretched my hands out to a blue glass ball set in a podium on the middle of the ledge, grabbing it and twisting, grunting and gasping with the strain. I realized with a sinking heart that I wasn't strong enough to even turn a stupid switch.

"You wanna turn this?" Blue grabbed the ball and twisted it sharply. Stairs clunked down from the tower nearest them. I sighed to myself. Would I ever be as good as them? It seemed every time something came along, I somehow managed to mess it up.

"H-how did you know that was there?" Green asked. I realized again that I was late in making up an excuse.

"I… uh… learned a _lot_ from Shadow Link," I replied, smiling weakly and hoping they'd buy it. There was no time to waste.

"Up the stairs, quickly!" I called, clambering up them unsteadily, cursing my weakness. We made it up just as I heard on of the voices I was fearing to find; Vaati.

"Heroes… Where did you go, little heroes?" A dark hand flew up from the clouds, stopping by the open doorway when it heard us.

"Yipes!" Red squeaked.

"It's Vaati!" Blue warned.

"He can reach all the way up here?!" Green asked.

"He doesn't have a normal body. He's stretching himself as far as possible to find you guys," I answered, completely forgetting I wasn't supposed to know that. Unfortunately, Vaati caught my slip.

"You guys?!" he queried, as his hand retracted from our sight quickly. Suddenly, bricks and rubble flew everywhere as a roaring noise warned us that Vaati was tearing the tower in half, it cracking just above our heads.

"You will never escape me!" Vaati screeched, face looming into view. Red went flying as a brick slammed into his chest.

"Vaati's weakness is the top of his head! Stab him in the head to beat him!" I yelled, knowing just how useless I was in my current state.

"Vio?! How can you know-"

"Who _cares_?! Just _get_ him!" I interrupted Green before he could finish his question. There wasn't time. We were all about to get flattened. Thankfully, Green realized the same thing.

"For Zelda!" Green leaped into the air, slamming his sword with deadly accuracy into the top of Vaati's head.

"You _did_ it! He's shrinking!" Red cheered as the demon howled and spun away, growing smaller.

"If this keeps up, he'll disappear… He'll be _completely_ gone!" Green crowed. At that moment, his words proved to be wrong, for Vaati blew up like a balloon, one tentacle swinging straight at us.

"Ha ha ha! Did you _really_ think… that's _all_ it takes to beat a _demon_?!" Vaati boomed, his single eye narrowed in fury.

"For crying out loud! Why won't he die?!" Blue gasped. I realized with a sinking heart exactly what needed to happen before he could die. As long as his life source lived…

"Hey, guys!" Vio yelled cheerfully, running at us. I knew my time with the others was up, racing away around a corner and down a hallway towards a set of stairs before they could catch me. Exhausted after running so far while I was still low on energy, I collapsed on my knees, panting hard. Knowing I had to do something before the others got killed, I crawled up the stairs, hating being so weak. I hated being in disguise because I was considered evil. I knew exactly what I had to do. Today, I was going to be the hero. Dropping my disguise, I tried to stand up as the castle shook, falling back to my knees and bashing my shin on the stairs.

_The dark mirror… as long as it exists, I'll be bound to Vaati and darkness,_ I thought to myself, _Well, no more!_

With renewed fervor, I gripped the stairs harder and pulled myself up as fast as I could as the tower crumbled around me. It was the longest few minutes of my life. At last, I reached the top, willing myself to stand as the ground became level. Filled with determination, I grabbed the nearest large item- a chair. Dragging it over to the middle of the room, I stared at my reflection in the Dark Mirror that stood there, preparing myself for what I was about to do. I looked haggard and exhausted, blue eyes full of determination. Then the image changed, it showed me the other heroes, all fighting Vaati and losing horribly. The demon was invincible, tentacles swinging, tossing the heroes around like dolls.

If I smashed the mirror, it would certainly kill the demon lord. But… I knew it would also kill me. I watched my gaze harden. If I had to choose between death or forever evil, I picked death.

_Even if it means I have to go back to being the shadow that everyone ignores, never again will I be a pawn of evil,_ I told myself, _It is _over_!_

Yelling, I brought the chair up and over my head, slamming it down into the mirror. There was a moment of silence, and then the Dark Mirror shattered, volumes of glass shards falling to the floor. I could feel the strength leave my body, having to lean on the mirror frame for support. My legs felt like jelly. But my job wasn't done. The mirror had to be destroyed completely. Moving to the back of it, I turned and started pushing, grunting and groaning as the frame started to tip.

"Th-the Dark Mirror! Shadow Link, have you lost your mind?!" Vaati raced into view, wide eye open in panic.

"Heh heh heh! Who's in control _now_, Vaati? _Who_?!" I couldn't help but laugh. My whole life he'd been controlling me. Now it was the complete opposite. I felt satisfied. Being in control felt pretty good.

"But the mirror is _your_ life source too!" At this point, I didn't care. I was born of darkness, and nothing could change that. People would never trust me, so what was the point of trying to live with them? What was the point of life anymore? Especially if I couldn't live in the light I was trying to save? And with Vaati gone, light had a better chance at winning.

"That's all right. I came out of the Dark Mirror. And with its power I woke you. How fitting that I use it to destroy us _both_!"

"STOOOOOOP!" Vaati screeched as I gave one last push. The mirror tipped out of my hands, falling with me toward the floor and smashing with a deafening _crash! _of shattering glass.

After that, I didn't really register a whole lot. A blinding pain ripped through me as the energy of the Dark Mirror left. My eyesight was blurry and dim, my hearing was off, and everything felt a little surreal. I knew I was dying, had only a few minutes left to live. And nobody probably cared. They never did.

"Shadow! Did _you_ break the Dark Mirror?! Why?!" I struggled to make out the panicky purple figure above me. It was hard to think. Everything I heard sounded like I was underwater. After a bit of struggling, I put two and two together. Vio. He was my friend once… Wasn't he? What had he said? I couldn't remember, so I asked something that had been nagging at me since I had fallen on the floor… Was I floating? It sure felt like it.

"Is… Is Vaati gone?" I asked, struggling to speak. Somehow, talking made everything a little more clear. I saw that Green, Red, and Blue were standing over me too.

"Yes. He's gone… Thanks to you!" Vio smiled faintly at me. At least, I think he did. That was new. Nobody ever really smiled at me. Why was he thanking me? I destroyed his whole castle… helped turn his own father against him. All I had given him was misery, and he was being kind in return?

"You're thanking me?" I asked aloud.

"You saved the day!" Vio exclaimed.

"Oh. You're… welcome," I still didn't really understand, but I was too tired to argue. My eyes started to droop. Sleep was good. I was so tired…

"Hey! Hang in there!" Vio's protesting caught my attention. I opened my eyes again, feeling a little more awake. I wanted to tell them why I did what I did. Not everyone would remember me… but maybe these four… maybe these four would.

"A shadow… usually only ever _follows_ its body. It never gets to lead the way. Today I faced the enemy… on my own. It felt pretty good," I ploughed on, though I felt myself fading, "But that still doesn't make me… part of the body." I sighed. It was true. I would go back to the shadows, where no-one would notice me. Being remembered was a useless hope.

"Of course it does," Green said softly, "You're one of us, you're our _friend_!

My eyes widened in shock. Friend? I have friends? _Real_ friends? My thoughts blurred as I slowly disappeared, fading away as the shadows left me. As I went, only one train of thought was left. _I am a hero, and I have friends._ That was all I needed.

Grinning and waving, I embraced the light.


End file.
